“I don’t believe my allies will require that of me,” she said. Then she let her thoughts shift to Kivrin back in Kinkadia. Would he want something like that to convince the Society to help them? Not that she even had a way to get to Alandria. It was a four-month journey by boat, and they had closed the portal. It was too absurd to even consider this. “But…if it means winning or losing, yes.”
She would do anything to stop Malysa.
And still, she did not look to Dean.
To the man who had given everything to earn his magic, to earn his dragon, to earn her. And he had willingly brought her all of Eleysia and Halcyon. He had already proven himself.
This should not be a game of leverage, and she hated thinking of it. But, if she asked it of Brigette, then she had to think of it for herself.
“The rest of our allies, we will have to contact directly. They’re not people easily found with a letter. Nor will they be convinced otherwise,” Cyrene said. “But, in the meantime, we will need to focus on training the Doma that we have. We need them to become more adept with their magic and swords.”
She looked to Quidera and then to the one person in the tent who had said nothing so far. “Vera, I want you to train the magic users.”
She startled. “But Cyrene, you know that I can’t.”
Cyrene arched an eyebrow. “You and Matilde trained me, hardly lifting a finger. You know more than all of us. You know exactly what to do. I can assess the people we have and give you all the information you need for you to set up that academy again that you always wanted.”
Vera looked uncertain but nodded. “Ameerath will help.”
“I believe that I will need your dragon before this is all over.”
Vera was pained at that announcement. “Of course.”
“I want you to work with Quidera to access the water seekers, and, Dean, I want you to figure out how much Hohl steel we have. I need you training the soldiers in sword play.”
“Darmian trained me,” he said with a raised eyebrow, as if he saw exactly what she was doing. “He can train the new recruits as well.”
“Fine,” she said. She would deal with him later. “Gwynora, I want you to work with Quidera and Darmian on this. You are an excellent swordsman, and you have magic. That will be an advantage many of them don’t have.”
Gwynora nodded. “I will whip them into shape.”
“You have your assignments. Let’s get to work,” Cyrene said. “Vera, Orden, Avoca, and Dean, will you remain?”
Slowly, everyone filed out of the war council. The meeting that she had just commandeered for her own. As she was the rightful ruler of this army now. Of all Doma.
Once everyone left, she turned to Vera. “How do I turn it off?”
Vera laughed. “Look into yourself. You are connected to the diamond. You can release that connection at any time. The golden glow is part of being true Doma. You just have to let it know you want to release it.”
Cyrene concentrated, and after a few minutes, the glow diminished and then disappeared. She breathed a sigh of relief. “You were right that I should keep it on for the meeting, but I am glad to get rid of it.”
“You will need to train with the diamond. There is so much more that you can unlock with it. I wish that I could train you with it, but it is a link that you must explore on your own.”
Cyrene felt like she had always known that. Like the diamond was beginning to show her all that her magic could do and all that she could really be if she opened herself up to that ancient Domina court that she was now connected to. Duty to all Doma past, present, and future.
“Thank you,” she said to Vera. “You will be a great teacher to these Doma.”
She frowned. “I don’t know how I will be able to do it without magic of my own, but I will try.”
“But you can’t be completely without magic,” Cyrene said. “You are still linked to Ameerath. Only those with magic can be bound.”
Vera opened her mouth and then closed it. As if she had never considered that. “That is true.”
“So, you must have the capacity for magic even if you feel as if you no longer have any.”
“I will think on that, Cyrene.” Vera looked pleasantly surprised. “And do my best for your army.”
“I know you will.” She turned to Avoca and Orden. “I believe that we have allies between us that we can reach out to. People who can bolster our numbers. Let’s figure out logistics for where we’re going to go once we’ve maybe had a moment to bathe.” She gestured to her blood-splattered clothing.
“That’s the Cyrene that I know.” Orden tipped his oversize hat at her.
Avoca grinned, slipping out her ice-white blade. “Let’s take down this false god.”
Cyrene nodded at her closest friends and then watched them head out of the tent. Both of them curiously glanced once at Dean before leaving.
“And where will we be going?” Dean asked once the tent was cleared and they were alone.
“We?” Cyrene asked.
“I noticed that you gave everyone else orders, except for me. I assume that means that I am going with you,” he said simply.
“I gave you orders, and you deferred them,” she told him. “I asked you to lead the training, and you said no.”
“It is a waste of my talents.” He held up a hand crackling with electricity.
“Fine. Then go teach some of the new recruits how to use their magic if you’d prefer.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Cyrene, I’m going with you.”
“You don’t even know where I’m going,” she said.
“Doesn’t matter.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Did you defy orders when you were in the military, too?”
“Would you like me to bow and scrape like my military training?” he asked. “Because I don’t think that you would. You want someone who will challenge you.”
“What I want is to win this war,” she told him. “That is all I want right now. Which means that you and I are the two most powerful magical users in this camp. I can feel that a mile off. We cannot both leave the army undefended again. I have allies that I need to try to bring into the fold. You can stay with Halcyon and protect everyone.”
Dean just stared down at her. “You have several hundred magical users here and a full army. You don’t need me here. You need me with you.”
“I can take care of myself,” she told him. “And unless you have allies that I don’t know about that you can contact, then I need you here. So, do you have those allies?”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. He wouldn’t say no.
She hesitated over the next words. “Could I send you to Domara? Are there people there who would aid you?”
And then Dean exploded. The cool, calm exterior obliterated. He stormed away from her on a growled, “No! I cannot go back there. How could you even ask that of me? You have no idea what I went through.”
Cyrene stilled at the outburst. Had even half-expected it. “You’re right.”
He whirled on her.
“I don’t know what happened because you won’t tell me. And you don’t have to until you’re ready. But, if we cannot ask the land of the gods to assist us, then I don’t see where else to best use you right now. You are our first line of defense.”